-1Grumbling under his breath, Hoagie stopped at a tree in front of Fanny's house. He glanced at it, carefully analyzing it for the best way to get up. She couldn't pick Wally to do this…no, has to make me look like the pervert. Hoagie was in the best physical shape of his life, but he was still neither slender or athletic. He pulled a pen from his pocket, and pressed a small button on the side. It grew into something that resembled a gun, with a grappling hook seeming to come out of nowhere. He pulled the trigger, and the hook caught on one of the upper branches of the tree. The rope tensed for a moment, then started to pull him upwards.

He reached the branch and grabbed onto it, using all of his strength to pull himself up. He awkwardly worked to position himself so that he was near the window. Is this even her room?, he thought, glancing in. He could see a dark figure tossing and turning in bed, but that could just has easily been one of her brothers. He reasoned that if it was her father's room, there would be two figures instead of one, with her mother there as well. If it was one of the brother's rooms, there would be no harm done. They were both members of the Kids Next Door, and both were enraged at their sister for her imitation of Benedict Arnold.

Taking a deep breath so that he could muster together all of his courage, Hoagie opened the window and flung himself in. He landed on the window sill, part of his body in the room while his legs dangled outside, but he grabbed onto a nearby table to steady himself and pulled himself in. All right…mind tap..mind tap… he crawled over next to the bed, a small beam of light from the moon lighting up the pale face of the young Irish girl. He was in the correct room.

The next thing he pulled from his pocket was a long tube that connected to a computer base that he pulled out of his backpack. He connected the tube to the computer. The tube was made to connect directly with someone's brain. He had heard it was painless, but it wasn't something he'd ever willingly undergo himself. Hoagie glanced over to the dresser and suddenly started blushing. He knew that they were BRAs, not regular bras, but his teenaged mind immediately made the connection. He forced himself to pay attention to the computer screen, and frowned. The monitor proclaimed ten minutes until it would be warmed up enough to use. Oh, c'mon! I wanna get outta here! he thought miserably.

Gaining a little more daring, he stood up and walked to the dresser, leaving the computer to warm itself up. He picked up one of the BRAs and frowned, thinking back to the first time he'd ever seen one. "I don't think it's yer color." The voice made him jump and whirl around.

Sure enough, Fanny Fulbright was standing there in her night gown. She flipped on the light switch and crossed her arms. "What are you doin' here, you lousy pervert?!" she demanded. Told Rachel they'd think I was a perv, Hoagie thought, making a mental note to get back at his commander later.

"Just uh…." Hoagie was a mechanical genius. When it came to girls, however, he was the same as any boy. His I.Q would drop by ten points for each second he spent around one. Twenty if he actually had to talk.

"Besides, if you're tryin' tah figure out a defense flaw in the BRAs, you should wait until next month. Father's working on a new design." She sat down where she was, and motioned for him to do the same. He stared at her for a moment, then obliged her.

"And how do I know this is good information?" Hoagie demanded. "You don't exactly have a good track record."

"You sneak into a girl's bedroom at night, sortin' through her bras, and you've got the nerve to tell me I make mistakes?"

Hoagie deflated. There wasn't really much he could say to that, not without revealing his plan, anyways. She hadn't seemed to have noticed the computer beside her bed. She reached over to her dresser and pulled the bottom drawer open, throwing him a box. "It's just a prototype of the newer model, but it's the best I can give ya."

She seemed very cold and emotionless right now. All the more strange, in Hoagie's opinion, was the sudden urge he had to hold her. To tell her that it was all right, that he understood that she wanted to do something good. To right all the mistakes she'd made in the past year.

"And what's this for?" Hoagie said, masking his thoughts with the edge of suspicion he now used.

"Consider it a birthday present," Fanny said, stretching her legs out and planting her hands behind her. Her body language clearly told Hoagie that she did not want him to leave just yet. She wanted to talk to him, but was too scared to say it. He decided that she had earned it with her gift, and smiled at her.

"Thanks," He said, not even thinking about not trusting her. She had been through so much, and Hoagie was too nice a guy to put her through interrogation now. "So..how have you been?" He realized after he asked that it was a rather stupid question. But it was the only thing he could think of.

"Fine…" she said stiffly, tensing up as her mind went back to the convention center. Should she warn Hoagie? Great, then I'd be a double traitor…besides, would he even believe me? Wouldn't be able to blame him if he didn't. She pulled her legs close to her, her arms resting on her knees while her head rested on her arms. She felt her eyes burning, tears she fought back so often threatening to emerge. She gulped as she forced them down, managing, just barely, to keep her eyes dry.

But Hoagie had seen it. In that very moment, he was transported to the time before her betrayal, to the day he first saw that she had human weakness, just like everybody else. He felt his heart plummet into his stomach, and bit his lip as a not unpleasant dizzy sensation filled him. He was once again looking at Fanny in a more than friends way. It was all the stranger in that they had never been friends.

But she needs one, Hoagie told himself, trying to keep Fanny from seeing the pitying look he had. He pushed his goggles up into his hair, studying her. "Hey, Fanny? Wanna do something sometime?" She sat up, studying him. Her eyes were narrowed in suspicion, and Hoagie got an idea. "Just as a favor to me. I don't have many friends…most of them all have girlfriends or someone else, and I'm sick of being the third wheel -"

"I'm not datin' ya," Fanny said warningly. Hoagie gave a fake chuckle.

"Sorry, not what I meant. I meant it'd be nice to hang around somebody who isn't too busy telling somebody how cute they are and arguing over who loves each other more."

Fanny made a face. "That sounds disgustin'."

"It is," Hoagie agreed, thinking back to the last time he'd gone to the movies with Nigel and Lizzie. He gave a little shudder. "The only one who doesn't do that is Abby, and that's because whoever the guy she's with is, he apparently doesn't live in America."

"All right, but this is outta pity," Fanny said warningly.

"Of course. Strictly platonic," Hoagie said, getting up and gathering his stuff. He purposely moved so that his body was blocking her view of the mind tap. He had no idea what she'd do to him if she saw that, but he doubted it would be anything good. Then again, he had expected to be beaten to a bloody pulp if she caught him in her room. But there they were, making plans to get together sometime.

"Won't Ra---…won't the others be mad at yah for this?"

"Don't care," Hoagie said simply. "To be honest, it's none of their damn business." He tucked the BRA prototype into his bag and threw it over his shoulder. "I'll meet you after school on Monday, in the library. We'll figure out where to go from there."

"But why don't you care?" Fanny asked, glancing down at her carpet. She wasn't sure what the answer was that she wanted, but she expected it to be something obvious. But she didn't want it to be.

"I'll hang out with who I want to hang out with," Hoagie said firmly, "And I think you'd be a good friend --"

"I betrayed you."

"We weren't friends then," Hoagie said with a smirk, sticking one leg out of the window. He glanced back at her. "Maybe I'm just hopeful that if we do become friends, you won't have reason to betray us again. Or maybe…well, I just wanna get to know you." With that, he exited the room, heading off into what little remained of the night.

Fanny glanced at her clock - It was five in the morning. They had been talking for an hour, yet it had all seemed to flow by in a minute. It hadn't been enough.

She crawled back into bed, and smiled in spite of herself. This didn't make up for what she had done, but at least one person existed who didn't hate her for it. It was a step in the right direction. A very small step, but a step nonetheless. She grabbed her rainbow monkey and held it close, thinking. Maybe Hoagie Gilligan isn't as bad as I thought he was…at least he didn't make any lame jokes tonight.